


in every skyline  (i was making you a wish)

by brightbluebeautiful (thescientist291)



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Spider-Man Fusion, Canon-Typical Violence, Crack Treated Seriously, Developing Relationship, Donnie is Spider-Man, Donnie is Turtle-Man, F/M, Fluff, Human Turtles (TMNT), Kinda, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, TMNT meets Spider-Man, Vigilantism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 00:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29601297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thescientist291/pseuds/brightbluebeautiful
Summary: He never knew just how exhilarating it all could be.Donnie leaps across two more rooftops, coming to a skidding halt at the edge of the last in a row.He looks out at the city, cast in a hazy, late evening glow. The sky stretches infinitely, paint streaks of blues, pinks, and purples fading as the light departs.He inhales, exhales... and kicks himself off the building.He’s never felt so free.*It's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle(s), Spider-Man style. I know, I know.
Relationships: Donatello/April O'Neil (TMNT)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	in every skyline  (i was making you a wish)

**Author's Note:**

> Honest to god I've got no clue what I'm doing. And why, out of all the Donnie-centric fanfic ideas I've had, this had to be the first one I uploaded, is beyond me. But I was rewatching one of my favorite Spider-Man movies this past weekend and then this idea popped into my head and wouldn't let me be until I followed it. I am weirdly fond of the concept and I hope you will be too!
> 
> Very unbeta-ed, so if there are any weird grammar or spelling issues, please feel free to lovingly point them out.
> 
> Title taken from the song "How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful" by Florence + the Machine.

It starts in such a stupid way.

_“C’mon, Donnie boy! It won’t be that bad!”_

_“Won’t it?”_

_“‘Course not, Mikey. Just a bit of fun, that’s all!”_

_“This is ridiculous, I wasn’t even playing! I need to get back to my work–”_

Before he knows it, Donnie’s wandering the streets of Manhattan in one of those terrible full body spandex suits. In _neon green_.

“Idiots,” he mutters to himself as he finds a safe enough place to perch for the next hour or so. “Of course I had to be stuck with asses for brothers.”

Finding an alleyway with enough light, he clambers up into one of the fire escape landings. Donnie sets his knapsack down beside him, and reaches in for his history textbook.

“Morons,” he sighs resignedly, and inwardly gives thanks that it isn’t that hot tonight.

He’s only read a page into his assigned reading when he hears a shout from the bodega kitty corner to him. He peers around the corner of his building to see two women struggling. He’s about to turn away when he catches sight of a man lurking in the shadows, not 10 feet away from their position. Maybe it’s a lifetime of living in New York, but he knows he can’t, in good conscience, let this one go. In record time, he’s got his bag slung back over his shoulders, book in his hand, and feet back on the ground. He approaches the argument as silently and casually as possible.

“I have to get home! My mom is waiting for me. I can’t go with you right now.”

“It won’t take very long. Just come with me for a bit. I’ll drive you right back home afterwards.”

“Hey!” Donnie calls out. The women turn to him. He takes note of the older woman’s tight grip around the younger one’s wrist. Now that he’s closer, he can tell that this girl can’t be much older than him.

“Long time no see! What’s it been, a year? How’s your family doing?”

“Back off, punk,” the older lady threatens. She pulls the girl closer to her, and the girl stumbles from the jerky motion.

“What?” he asks as normally as he can. “I’m just catching up. You remember me, right?” he says, catching the girl’s eye. “I used to live just two blocks down from you.” He mentally gives a sigh of relief when he sees the moment she catches on. She nods slowly, then turns to face the woman in front of her.

“Yeah, this is Sam. We grew up together. He knows my parents really well.”

Donnie feels like giving this girl a high-five. “That’s right, I do. They always used to pick me up from school. Hey, it’s kinda late. Let’s walk home together, huh? I’d love to say hi to your folks again.” He’s by her side now, and firmly places his hand on her shoulder, trying to communicate as much self-assurance to the lady—and the now retreating man—as possible.

The woman looks quietly furious, but her grip on the girl’s arm loosens. He seizes his chance.

“Nice to meet you guys. Have a nice night!” He cheerfully calls out, and then gently tugs the girl closer to him, turning them both around so that they’re walking in the same direction, his arm across her shoulders.

He counts twenty-five steps before he speaks. “You OK?”

She looks up at him suddenly, like she’s startled, or maybe still on edge. “Yeah.”

Donnie nods softly. “Are we going the right way? To get to your place?”

Her brief hesitation is all he needs to know, but he hears it from her anyway. “…No. And I think she knows that.”

He’s about to try and reassure her, somehow, or maybe work a way to still pull off their ruse, when he hears the rushed footsteps behind them. He ducks, bringing the girl down with his arm, and then spins to face the man who followed them. The man swings at him with a crowbar, but he jumps back in a dodge and then brings his textbook upwards, smashing it into the man’s chin. The man shouts in pain and anger. Donnie falls backwards, places one hand on the ground, and uses his momentum to kick him in the diaphragm. The man heaves forward, clearly having lost his breath, and Donnie sweeps the man’s feet out from under him. The man lands on the concrete with a thud, wheezing. Before the girl can even blink, Donnie’s back by her side and grabbing her arm.

“Run!” he tells her. He’s pulling her after him without giving her a chance to respond. They dash down the street, Donnie bringing her around a corner where he knows a subway entrance will be. He leads her around the stairs opening, instead ducking around the next corner and behind a pillar.

They stand in the shadows, panting quietly. He tries desperately to slow his breathing enough to listen for any movement. After a movement, he hears a train pulling into the station beneath them, and the sound of footsteps rushing down the stairs they just passed. Donnie turns to the girl. She’s already looking at him. For a brief moment, he notices how pretty her eyes are.

“C’mon, let’s keep going,” he whispers. She nods, and they quickly hurry away from their hiding spot.

*

He’s in gym class thirty-eight hours later, absent-mindedly massaging his still sore wrist— _Gotta work on that landing,_ he thinks to himself—when he hears the first of it.

“My kid sister, yesterday she kept going on and on about this fighting turtle in the street.”

An incredulous laugh. _“What?”_

“I know, right? But she caught a picture of it on her phone. I mean there’s no way it’s a turtle, but I get why she keeps saying it is.”

“Dude, it’s all green and stuff?”

“It even has a brown lump on its back.”

“I can’t see its face though.”

“Oh yeah, see? It’s pretty much hidden by the shadow."

"Yo this lighting is so shitty. Almost makes his face look red.”

“Nah, it looks purple. Maybe he got decked.”

“Even if he did, he clearly gave it to that other guy. That’s a sweet kick.”

Assenting sounds abound.

“My sister says the guy knocked that dude to the ground by swinging his leg around.”

“Ha! Dude literally got swept off his feet!”

Cackles. Donnie’s still trying to decide how best to approach the group of boys in order to see this photo, when the lunch bell rings, and, predictably, they’re out the door in a blink of an eye.

*

Honestly, he’s forgotten all about it, swamped as he is trying to remember all of the characters’ names in _Pride & Prejudice_ for his test in English. He heaves a sigh as the class bell rings, and the sound of chairs scraping back against the floor fill the room. He follows the meandering group of students to the door, paper in hand and ready to give to the teacher waiting.

“Do you remember the name of the two Bingley sisters? I thought there was only one!”

“You only watched the movie, didn’t you?”

Donnie turns around.

April O’Neil, Goddess Divine, is standing right behind him. And he didn’t even notice??

She’s smiling wryly at Renet Tilley, who’s smiling sheepishly back. They turn back in sync to face the line, and consequently, look right at Donnie. Before his cheeks even think about flaming, April O’Neil, Aphrodite Incarnate, is speaking.

“How do you think you did?”

Correction: she is speaking to him! His life has never been better.

“Ah, I, uh… I think OK. Fiction isn’t really my strong suit,” he laughs lightly, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

April O’Neil, the Vitruvian Woman, smiles like she knows something. “You could say that again. I’ve seen that robot in the display cases. Weren’t you the head of that team?”

It’s almost as if, to make up for their previously missed opportunity, his cheeks were prepared. His face feels doubly heated. _She… noticed?_

“...Yeah. Yeah! Yeah, that, that, was me.” _Smoooooth, Donatello!_ The voices of his brothers ring out mockingly in his head.

Thank the stars above, she doesn’t seem to mind. “It looks really cool.”

Donnie knows. He just knows, he's grinning like a fool right now. Somehow he doesn’t care.

“Donatello?”

His face whips back to the front. His teacher is looking at him, hand waiting patiently mid-air. “Your test?” she prompts.

“Oh right! Right, sorry,” he says in a rush. He hands her the paper and then steps quickly out the door. He ducks his head, making a hasty retreat, but not before April O’Neil, love of his life, catches his eye, and _winks._


End file.
